Terminology Management

In many organizations, the amount of content developed grows exponentially, and recycling and re-purposing of existing translations is constantly improving. Today's use of translation tools and technologies such as Content Management Systems (CMS) means that often only newly-developed sections of larger documents are sent for translation, with parallel work done by multiple translators. The rest of the document translation comes from existing archived translations.

This puts an even larger emphasis on correct terminology management than ever before, as it is imperative that linguistic consistency is maintained when combining the old content - and translations - with the new.

Range of Services

To help companies realize the benefits of effective terminology management; we offer the following range of services:

• Linguistic evaluation of existing localization glossaries
• Creation of new or updates of existing glossaries
• Terminology extraction and translation
• Terminology management maintenance and ongoing processing
• Advice on using standard industry glossaries for individual target markets
• Terminology management tools; online terminology sharing
• Creation, review and updates of linguistic style guides
• Online localization project query management
• Translation memory maintenance
• Development of a customized corporate terminology process

The Need for Consistency

Strong brands build on consistent messaging, and this is impossible without consistent terminology. It is true today that maintaining terminology consistency is a key part of any sound content management and localization strategy.

Inconsistent terminology in products may render them more difficult to use by your customers. This applies not only to the user interface (UI) of software products, but equally to the whole set of accompanying product documentation, marketing content, and internal communication or training materials.

Similarly, inconsistencies between software UI and the help/documentation will confuse users, and decrease their productivity using the products. Users will question the quality of the product, and perhaps stop using it. Support requirements may also increase as a result.

Benefits within Easy Reach

It may not seem so at first, but a fully systematic approach to terminology management is a smart investment. Inevitably, it results in time and cost savings and other benefits such as higher linguistic quality and consistency, which ultimately lead to lower costs and shortened turnaround time during the localization process.

In our experience, there is no need to wait for large scale terminology process improvements to reap benefits. Even a small improvement made now will yield immediate and tangible results. These benefits will multiply when additional languages are added, and when new content needs to be localized.

The Right Process

As part of our terminology solutions, we help design modern terminology processes, with effective use of existing technologies and clear definitions of the individual stages and roles involved - who may suggest, approve, and finally sign-off terminology choices and changes.

Our solutions include terminology management for continuous, ongoing projects for management of large-scale discrete projects with much new terminology; and processes for managing terminology changes between releases.

We have expertise with a broad range of existing terminology applications and standards available today. This means we can advise on the optimum current processes and terminology choices and so future-proof any investment you may make in this area. This also includes utilizing Term Base eXchange (TBX), the ISO-approved, open XML-based standard for exchanging structured terminological data.

Integrated Approach

In our experience, the authoring process has a large role to play in effective terminology management. Many potential terminology inconsistencies may be eliminated in the source language version of content, decreasing the risk of multiplying inconsistencies by the number of target languages.

This means that proper terminology management processes should be applied in the early-stage authoring phase, continue throughout the content's lifecycle, and be integrated effectively with terminology management in the translation phase. Conversely, findings related to terminology choice and usage in the translation phase should be fed back to content authors for continuous improvement.

To find out how our Terminology Management solutions could help bring tangible efficiencies to your localization processes, please complete the Request for Information form and we will get back to you shortly, or see other options for contacting us.